Nasty Orphaned Azure Tenant lying around locking a custom domain

Hello Richard Rees,

Your situation with a leftover orphaned Azure tenant locking your custom domain after deleting the original Microsoft 365 account via GoDaddy is a common but tricky issue because Microsoft enforces domain ownership verification and tenancy locks for security reasons. Without a support plan, direct self-service removal of such orphaned tenants and releasing the domain is not possible through the portal due to protection against domain hijacking. However, you can follow these general steps to try to regain control or get it released:

Step 1: Verify Domain Ownership

• Ensure you have access to the domain’s DNS control panel (GoDaddy or your registrar).
• Confirm you can edit DNS TXT records or add CNAME entries—this is essential to prove ownership.

Step 2: Attempt Domain Removal in Entra ID (Azure AD)

• Sign in to https://entra.microsoft.com with your new Microsoft 365 tenant admin.
• Navigate to Tenant > Custom domain names.
• Check if the domain from the orphaned tenant is listed; if it is, removal won’t succeed as it’s locked.
• If your new tenant already has this domain added and verified, proceed.

Step 3: Open a Support Ticket for Domain Release

• Since no self-service is available to release domains from orphaned tenants, create a support request at https://portal.azure.com > Help + Support > New support request.
• Under Issue Type, select Technical Support, then choose Microsoft 365 or Entra ID.
• Provide:
  • Proof of domain ownership (screenshots showing registrar control or DNS TXT record).
  • Your new tenant ID and subscription.
  • Details of the old tenant (if known).
  • Explain you want the domain released from the orphaned tenant due to domain lock.
• Microsoft verifies ownership, and if confirmed, their backend team manually removes domain registration from the orphaned tenant, allowing reuse.

Step 4: Clean Up Old Tenant (If You Have Access)

• If you can log in as any admin to the old tenant:
  • Remove all users/groups/app registrations referencing the custom domain.
  • Change primary domain to default *.onmicrosoft.com.
  • Remove/verify domain from Entra ID > Domains.

Step 5: Use PowerShell for Orphaned Object Cleanup (Optional)

• You may try scripts to remove stale users/groups referencing the domain in Azure AD via Remove-AzureADUser or Remove-MgUser with domain filtering, freeing domain dependencies.

Additional Tips

• Patience required: Support team manual release can take several days.
• Keep your new tenant DNS correctly set up for new domain validation.
• Don't add the domain to your new tenant until old tenant domain release confirmed to avoid verification failures.
• Document all correspondence for follow-ups.

Sadly, without support, or if you can’t prove ownership, no automated way exists to remove the domain from the orphaned tenant. Microsoft’s Docs and communities strongly recommend support escalation for domain release in these situations.

If this helps you get started, please accept the answer.

Best Regards,

Jerald Felix